I say nothing of the holy and awe-inspiring mysteries of Eleusis, where people come from the ends of the earth to be initiated. (Cicero, *De Natura Deorum* (On the Nature of the Gods), Book I, Section 42, in the Loeb Classical Library edition, translated by H. Rackham.
M: Then what will become of our Iacchus and Eumolpidae and their impressive mysteries, if we abolish nocturnal rites? For we are composing laws not for the Roman people in particular, butfor all virtuous and stable nations.
A: I take it for granted that you make an exception of those rites into which we ourselves have been initiated.
M: I will do so indeed. For among the many excellent and indeed divine institutions which your Athens has brought forth and contributed to human life, none, in my opinion, is better than those mysteries. For by their means we have been brought out of our barbarous and savage mode of life and educated and refined to a state of civilization; and as the rites are called “initiations,” so in very truth we have learned from them the beginnings of life, and have gained the power not only to live happily, but also to die with a better hope. (Cicero Laws II, xiv, 36)
